Friday, October 31, 2008

I have enjoyed Donna Pointkowski's, What's Past Is Prologue, Polish History Challenge as well as the wonderful series of articles she has written for Polish-American Heritage Month. While I don't believe I have any Polish ancestors, Donna has fashioned this challenge to make it extremely easy for everyone to participate.

Even though I'm only an honorary Pole, I wanted to have some connection to the article I would write for the Challenge. I once lived in Southern California and often visited Modjeska Canyon. Modjeska Canyon was home to and named for a very famous Polish tragedienne, Madame Helena Modjeska. I decided to research her life and I found it so interesting. In fact I was so taken by her story it was very difficult to put down my research and write this article.

She died almost one hundred years ago; an integral part of the theater in this country, England, and Europe. She was revered and yet today we know so little about her; most of us never having heard of her at all. One hundred years from today will our descendants say Angelina who? Madame Modjeska was as famous as Angelina and I'm sure you said "who?" when you read the name of the subject of this article.

I can not do Modjeska's life justice in this short article. She is the subject of books. I will give you a flavor of who she was and some of the interesting facts I uncovered about her. As a Polish patriot she deserves a place in Polish-American Heritage Month.

M A D A M E H E L E N A M O D J E S K A1844 - 1909

Madame Helena Modjeska

Helena was born at Cracow, the ancient Polish capital, Oct. 12, 1844, one of ten children living at home. She came from an artistic family, many members of which were actors and musicians. Her father, Michael Opido, was a mountaineer and a musician of some renown.

When Helena was seven her father died of consumption, he was forty-three. He had contracted a severe cold while searching for his drowned brother's body. Opido found the body, but returned home with a high fever and pneumonia. A few months later he died in the mountains, to which he was transported at his urgent request.

Helena's maternal grandfather, an engineer, was killed trying to save miners entombed in a burning mine just a few weeks before her mother, Josephine, was born. Her grandmother remarried and left Josephine with her grandmother who was subsequently killed by lightening. Josephine was raised by family friends.

At nineteen Josephine married a wealthy man thirty years her senior who died leaving her with many sons and many debts. Josephine met and married Helen's father Michael. It was said they were a true love match.

From this beginning it is easy to understand why Helena was an actress who excelled at tragedies, her early life and history were filled with tragedies.

At an early age her imagination was fired by the performances of classic and romantic plays at the Municipal Theater, and she developed an invincible desire to go on the stage. This desire was strengthened by finding a copy of "Hamlet" in a Polish translation. The copy belonged to the Cracow Theater, and, not being able to purchase it from the authorities, this fifteen year old girl copied the whole play and carried it with her as a rare treasure wherever she went, studying the scenes.

Helena made her debut on the stage in 1881 at Bochnia, Austrian Poland, under the auspices of her half-brother, Felix Benda, a popular actor. In 1860 she married G. Z. Modrzejewski and became known to the theater-going public as Madame Helena Modjeska, and adaptation of her husband's name. Following her debut on the stage she joined a traveling company, and became a popular favorite in her native Poland. In 1862 she played a three-month engagement at the government theater, Lemberg; then managed a theater in Czernowitz, and in 1865 became the leading lady of the Cracow theater.

She played many and various parts, finally rising to the position of "first actress" at the Imperial Theater of Warsaw, the capital of Russian Poland. She remained there for a eight years, acting nearly all the heroine roles in the plays of Shakespeare, Goethe, Schiller, Lessing, Comeille, Racine, Moliere, and the Polish native dramatists.

Her husband, Modrzejewski, died and she was married a second time, in September 1868, to Charles Bozenta Chlapowski. Chlapowski was a leading Polish journalist from a wealthy family, who had frequently irritated the Austrian government by writing and publishing patriotic articles.

In 1876 the worry from the constant interference of the Russian censors, failing health, and professional jealousy led them to emigrate to the United States. They settled on a ranch near Los Angeles, Cal., with hopes of founding a Polish colony.

Knowing little of farming they soon lost most of the money they had accumulated. Helena decided to return to the stage. The major block to her taking the stage in America was the fact she spoke no English. She made the acquaintance of a woman in San Francisco who taught her the lines to two plays in English so she could perform while she learned to speak the language. John McCullough, then manager of the California Theater in San Francisco, gave her an opportunity to appear there in July, 1877. The reception was enthusiastic and her engagement in San Francisco proved a complete success.

At its close H. J. Sargent became her manager, and appearing under his direction in "Adrienne" at the Fifth Avenue Theatre, New York, receiving a welcome in the metropolis which equaled that already accorded her in San Francisco. After a lengthy engagement she began an extended tour, traveling for three seasons throughout the United States. From there she traveled to London. Returning to the United States she made her second appearance in New York city at Booth's Theater, Dec. 11, 1882, where she was seen for the first time as Rosalind, in "As You Like It."

On Feb. 11, 1884, at the Star Theatre, New York, she produced "Najezda," a play written for her by Maurice Barrymore; and after another profitable London engagement she was seen at the Union Square Theater, New York, in "Les Chouans," Dec. 13, 1886. Following this success she traveled for three seasons. During 1889 and 1890 seasons she appeared as a joint star with Edwin Booth.

She was extremely popular with the rich and famous. The following is a portion of a New York Times article documenting her arrival in New York City, September 19, 1882:

Mme. Modjeska, the actress, arrived in this City yesterday on the steam-ship Arizona of the Guion Line. The steamer arrived off Quarantine soon after 11 A.M., and was met by a tug having on board a number of friends of the acress. On arriving alongside the steamship, the tug displayed an enormous white flag with a deep red border bearing the name “Modjeska” in the centre in blue.

The actress was accompanied by her husband, the Count Bozenta Chiapowski and two maids. She was a good deal fatigued from her voyage, which was a stormy one, the steamer having been delayed several hours by rough weather.

On reaching the City Mme. Modjeska was driven to the Clarendon Hotel, and telegrams announcing the safe arrival of the party were immediately sent to London, Warsaw, and Crakow.

Soon after reaching the hotel Mme. Modjeska was called upon by Oscar Wilde and Mora, the artist. A number of persons who presented their cards in the evening were unable to see her, as she had retired thoroughly fatigued after her trip.

In 1903 Helena denounced the Russian Government at a gathering at the World’s Fair in Chicago. What she said in Chicago was reported to St. Petersburg. Two years later when she went to Warsaw (Russian Poland) she was not allowed to appear on the stage and she was ordered to leave the city within twenty-four hours. A few weeks after this there was a decree from the government forbidding her to enter any part of the Russian dominions.

In 1905 Modjeska made a farewell tour in German and Austrian Poland appearing on stage at Cracow, Lemberg, and Posen in seventeen different plays. She returned to New York where she appeared in a benefit performance for herself after which she returned to California.

When she became ill in 1909 the New York Times carried daily updates of her condition. She died April 8, 1909, in Orange County California, of Bright’s disease complicated by a heart condition. Funeral services where held for her at St. Viblan’s Cathedral in Los Angeles. The body was taken to Calvary Cemetery prior to being shipped to New York for funeral services there. Funeral services were held for the actress at St. Stanislaus’s Polish Catholic Church, 107 Seventh Street, New York City on July 1, 1909.

Count Chlapowski took the remains of Helena Modjeka onboard the Kaiserin Auguste Victoria bound for Poland. The Count settled all his affairs in California where they had made their home and did not return.

July 17, 1909 she was buried in Poland after lying in state at the Church of The Holy Cross in Cracow. High honors were paid the famous actress and a huge concourse of people attended her last rights. Many Polish societies in the United States sent wreaths while the cities of Cracow and Lemberg, all the National theaters, and hundreds of her fans sent floral tributes.

Sources:

Modjeska, Helena. Memories and Impressions of Helena Modjeska: An Autobiography. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1910.

Strang, Lewis. Famous Actresses of the Day in America. Boston: L.C. Page & Co., 1899.

Hornblow, Arthur. A History of the Theatre in America from Its Beginnings to the Present Time: From Its Beginnings to the Present Time. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1919.

Winter, Nevin Otto. Poland of Today and Yesterday: A Review of Its History, Past and Present, and of the Causes which Resulted in Its Partition, Together with a Survey of Its Social, Political, and Economic Conditions Today. Boston: L. C. Page & Company, 1913.

It was a dark and snow stormy night. The witching hour had finally come to pass. I gazed at myself in the mirror - the "Great Pumpkin" look was me all over.

The trip in this blizzard would be a long one and I had to arrive at my destination in time for Halloween. As we drove, I hung my head out the passenger door window to help the driver follow the lines painted on the road. I couldn't see my hand in front of my face. I was developing freezer burn, but that was the least of my worries. I kept yelling "hurry" but thanks to the weather there was no hurry this Halloween.

At last, the lights of my destination appeared. I was met at the door by a woman wearing a nurse's uniform. "Great costume," I remarked. She was not amused.

"How far along is your pumpkin?" she asked. "Nine months, six days," I answered. "Is it your first pumpkin?" First and most likely last I thought. "Yes," I answered. She informed me I had probably made a mistake in calculating my pumpkin growth chart, as my pumpkin wasn't large enough to be delivered for this Halloween celebration.

"Go for a walk," she suggested. "Your pumpkin will be late for the celebration. No Halloween winner for you this year."

Walk? She wanted someone dressed as the "Great Pumpkin" to walk. How long, how far? O.k., this pumpkin was getting really heavy and it was evident I would soon be viewing it from a spot on the corridor floor.

Where did that woman dressed as a nurse go? All the doors down the corridor were closed. I started opening them, one by one, looking for the pumpkin patch.

Aha! A man dressed as a doctor was placing a recently arrived pumpkin in the patch. "I've got another one for you," I called to him. The woman in the nurse's uniform shook her head and whispered to the doctor. "Check her anyway," he ordered.

The disbelieving woman in the nurse's uniform reluctantly checked and found to her surprise that my pumpkin was well on its way. Minutes later I participated in the Halloween celebration. A new pumpkin for the patch.

"A witch or a warlock?" I asked the doctor. "A princess," he replied.

My little princess was six years old before she realized that people did not come to our door on the 31st of October asking for candy because it was her birthday, but rather because it was Halloween.

It is her favorite holiday and she firmly believes that everyone should celebrate because it is her birthday after all.

This was originally published for the 34th Carnival of Genealogy, October 2007. It's one of my favorites. Happy Birthday Tracy.

The WW-GYR officially launches today. Found at fM's GYR will be An Epitaph A Day - Keeps Death's Spectre Away, an epitaph for everyday of the week. See today's. As well as some information regarding epitaphs called Sermons In Stones. There will also be a column called Dead Man's Corner (miscellaneous dirt) and The GraveYard Shift where you will find the stories in the gloom and gleam.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Spirit Photography is a fact. During Halloween week, Shades Of The Departed will focus on Spirit Photography and its origins as well as six degrees of separation between the subject and the footnoteMaven.

Mary Todd Lincoln's spirit photograph is a fact.

Fact - Maria Bash was married to Samuel Coulter, had a daughter named Jerusha and a grandson named Wallace who was a photographer.

Fact - this photograph taken of Maria Bash by her grandson Wallace Suter.

Fact - the mourning broach is fact. The family does not know who is pictured.

The mourning broach

Fact - Wallace's photograph.

One of Wally's Professional PhotographsElla Coulter DillonBy W. G. Suter

What Is FICTION?

The spirit photograph and the entire story is a work of fiction!

I offered two rather obvious clues. The title of my article was "Maria Bash and The Spirit Hoax," not "Spirit Photograph," and it was just that - a hoax!

I also added a more subtle obvious clue. "It was said a cat had run across the path of the carriage causing the horse to bolt and Jerusha to be thrown, breaking her neck." Perhaps I should have made the cat black, but the cat has been a feature of most all Halloween stories since their beginning. You will notice I did not have the accident occur at Halloween so that the cat would stand out.

The topic for the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy is:Politics and Our Ancestors!

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The next edition of the COG will be published on Election Day in the U.S. (November 4). So it's the perfect time to research and reflect on what we know (or can find out) about our family members' involvement with the election process.- ¤ -

Did one of your ancestors run for office? - ¤ -

Who was President when your immigrant ancestors first set foot onAmerican (Canadian, Australian, etc.) shores?

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What do you know about your grandparents' voting record?Which of your ancestors was first eligible to vote?

- ¤ -Do you have any suffragettes on your family tree?- ¤ -

What did the electoral process mean to your ancestors?

- ¤ -Do you have a personal Election Day memory you'd like to share?Think about it, write about it, and submit it for the next COG!

- ¤ -The Deadline For Submissions IsNovember 1, 2008

Attention All COG Participants

Please use a descriptive phrase in the title of any articles you plan to submit and/or write a brief description/introduction to your articles in the "comment" box of the blogcarnival submission form. This will give readers an idea of what you've written about and hopefully interest them in clicking on your link. Introductions for your articles will not be provided for you due to the volume of articles submitted. Thank you!

Submit your blog article to the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy using the carnival submission form or select the 59th Edition COG poster in the upper right hand corner of this page. Past posts and future hosts can be found on the blog carnival index page.

-- Set up three more blogs.-- Write a book review.-- Write a Coming Attractions article for Shades.-- Map my Calling Card Article.-- Prepare for a house guest.-- Get my flu and pneumonia shots.-- Watch the debate.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

This is a photograph of my husband's Great Great Grandmother Maria Bash taken in 1900. Maria had just suffered the loss of her sister Jerusha, Maria's daughter's namesake. In the photograph Maria is wearing a mourning broach containing a photograph of her sister taken on Jerusha's twentieth birthday.

Maria and Jerusha were only nineteen months apart and had been inseparable all their lives. When the two married they lived in the same town; in houses only a block apart. Every day one or the other would travel down the street to the sister's kitchen for morning coffee.

Jerusha's death had been very unexpected. She had died as the result of a buggy accident; an accident in which her own son was driving. It was said a cat had run across the path of the carriage causing the horse to bolt and Jerusha to be thrown, breaking her neck.

Maria was inconsolable. The doctor was called. He warned the family they must find a way to relieve her distress, as it was causing a great strain on an already weak heart.

Wally, a budding amateur photographer and Maria's grandson, approached his Grandfather Samuel with an idea. (Wally eventually became a professional earning a living in the field of photography - see photo at end of article.)

Wally had been reading in the magazines and newspapers about spirit photography. Mrs. Lincoln herself sat for a spirit photograph and it was said to bring her great comfort. Wally assured his Grandfather Samuel he could create such a photograph with Jerusha watching over his Grandmother. Samuel was a level headed Midwesterner and did not hold with what the magazines and newspapers also called a hoax; but if it had comforted the President's wife perhaps it would comfort his wife. Samuel reluctantly agreed.

The result is the photograph you see below. Yes, Wally was an obvious amateur! It looks as if he has cut Maria's image from another photograph pasted it on a surface with other bits of photographs; then taken a photograph of that composite to create the final spirit photograph. One look and you know his photography skills were not as sophisticated as the tricksters of the time.

It is easy to identify the spirit of Jerusha, and Lincoln (a nice touch), but the other spirits, known to the family at the time, are lost to memory and history.

Did Maria buy the hoax? The family is convinced she didn't; that she pretended to be amazed at the spirits that surrounded her for the sake of her grandson Wally, who had gone to such great lengths to comfort her.

Written on RectoGrandma CoulterMother of Jerusha SuterGrandmother of Olive Suter

The fortunes of children were considered to be regulated by the day on which they were born. These are undoubtedly of very ancient origin and have a mythological connection and significance.

I am Tuesday's child. The grace attributed to Tuesday's child was physical grace and trust me, I am not graceful. This rhyme takes us back to the pre-Christian days when children born on the day of the Sun were supposed to be under his protection and, subject, for this reason, to very favorable influences. All the other references in the nursery rhyme can be traced to pre-Christian beliefs in the character of the various Gods after whom the days of the week were named.

Nursery lore, like most history, has been subject to many changes stretching over long periods of time. Wednesday's and Thursday's rhymes seem to have changed the most over time. Superstitious parents often would not tell a Wednesday's child he/she had in fact been born on Wednesday.

The rhyme was continued into modern times to teach children the days of the week. Below the rhyme was used by George Clark to sell his thread in the late 1800s. I have included the trade cards he manufactured and the changes that have occurred to the rhyme for each day of the week.

MONDAY

Monday's child is fair of face seems to have remained the rhyme for Monday throughout time. Historically, it meant attractive. Early interpretations, however, held it to mean fair as in light colored. A moon reference perhaps?

The name Monday comes from the Old English Mōnandæg (pronounced [mon.nan.dæg]) meaning "Day of the Moon".

A Monday birthday also meant health.

Clark added - To all be fair - we offer free - The best advice - use ONT.

TUESDAY

Tuesday's child has not always been full of grace, Tuesday's child was once solemn and sad.

The name Tuesday comes from the Old English Tiwesdæg (pronounced [ti.wes.dæg] meaning "Tyr's day." Tyr (Old English) was a god of combat and heroic glory in Norse mythology and Germanic paganism.

A Tuesday birth also meant wealth.

Clark added - The dainty costume worn by me - My mama made with ONT.

WEDNESDAY

Poor Wednesday, before it was merry and glad it was full of woe, born to woe, sour and sad, and had toil and woe. I did find one Scottish reference to Wednesday's bairn being loving and giving.

The name Wednesday comes from the Old English Wōdnesdæg (pronounced [woːd.nes.dæg]) meaning the day of the Germanic god Wodan, more commonly known as Odin, who was the highest god in Norse mythology, and a prominent god of the Anglo-Saxons in England until about the seventh century. Odin is associated with poetic and musical inspiration.

A Wednesday birth was the best of all.

Clark added - Merry and glad she'll always be if she will use Clark's ONT.

THURSDAY

Thursday had far to go, was sour and sad, merry and glad, worked hard for a living, and worst of all was inclined to thieving.

The name Thursday comes from the Old English Þūnresdæg (pronounced [θuːn.res.dæg]), meaning the day of Thor, the god of thunder in Norse Mythology and Germanic Paganism. Doesn't she look like the god of thunder?

Being born on Thursday also meant for crosses. Were those to bear I wonder.

Loving and giving wasn't the only trait of Friday's child. They were also a child of woe, was free in giving, full of sin, and Godly given.

The name Friday comes from the Old English Frigedæg (pronounced [fri.je.dæg]), meaning the day of Frige, the Germanic goddess of beauty. It is based on the Latin Dies Veneris, "Day of Venus." Venus was the Roman goddess of beauty, love and sex.

Saturday's child didn't just have to work for a living, it had to work hard for a living. Saturday's child was also pure within and had far to go.

Saturday is the only day of the week to retain its Roman origin in English, named after the Roman god Saturn associated with the Titan Cronus, father of Zeus and many Olympians. Its original Anglo-Saxon rendering was Sæturnesdæg (pronounced [sæ.tur.nes.dæg]).

A Saturday birth also meant no luck at all.

Clark added - Clark's ONT will smooth the way - For the busy child born Saturday.

SUNDAY

Sunday's child has always fared the best in this rhyme. Blithe & bonny & good & gay was also happy and lucky, and wise and gay. Sunday's child has also been full of grace, had a shining journey down life's way, and never shall want. Sunday has been left out of the rhyme on several occasions and replaced with Christmas Day.

The name Sunday comes from the Old English Sunnandæg (pronounced [sun.nan.dæg]), meaning "Day of the Sun". This is a translation of the Latin phrase Dies Solis. English preserves the original pagan/sun associations of the day. Many other European languages, including all of the Romance languages, have changed its name to the equivalent of "the Lord's day."

Clark added - Like the sweet child born Sabbath day - Clark's ONT is good alway.

Friday, October 10, 2008

"Two Exhibitors From The West"Nov. 21, 1935Eddie CarrierandMr. Denver Colo.Office(written on the back of the photograph)

This is a photograph of my Grandfather, Edward Jesse Greene. I know he worked for MGM, I have yet to determine what exactly he did in Hollywood.

This photograph could have worked equally well for the Crowning Glory Edition of Smile For The Camera, but I saved it for Funny Bone, because it always makes me smile. The reason?

You might guess that it's the hat, and it does play a part, but I know something about my grandfather the casual observer doesn't. Jesse was a tiny man, five feet four inches tall and 90 lbs. on his best day. To the unknowing eye he looks six feet tall and he owes it all to that ten gallon hat jauntily tilted to one side.

So Mr. Denver Colorado, thank you for making me smile whenever I look at the tiny man in the ten gallon.

Saturday, October 4, 2008

Trick Or Treat?

The topic for the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy is:Halloween HauntingsFact Or Fiction!

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We're going to have some fun with the Carnival of Genealogy this time around.

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Halloween is coming up in a few weeks.In keeping with the spirit of the season, write a storyabout or including one of your ancestors.It can be fact or fiction.- ¤ -

Don't tell which it is (until after October 15 when the COG is published),let your readers guess. We should all get some great commentsas readers try to determine if our Halloween genea-story is fact or fiction!

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Was your ggg grandmother a witch?Did you live in a haunted house when you were growing up?Were there bats in Aunt Betty's belfry?Did you ever meet up with a ghost when you were looking for an ancestor's grave?

Please use a descriptive phrase in the title of any articles you plan to submit and/or write a brief description/introduction to your articles in the "comment" box of the blogcarnival submission form. This will give readers an idea of what you've written about and hopefully interest them in clicking on your link. Introductions for your articles will not be provided for you due to the volume of articles submitted. Thank you!

Submit your blog article to the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy using the carnival submission form or select the 58th Edition COG poster in the upper right hand corner of this page. Past posts and future hosts can be found on the blog carnival index page.

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

It is the wise Family Historian, who understands that wecan no more take credit for the accomplishments of ourancestors, then we can take blame for their failures.

Our knowledge of them is merely insight into ourselves.

footnoteMaven

It was once commonly quoted that today's news was tomorrow's birdcage liner. Today, yesterday's news is on microfilm or digitally scanned and online ready to break down a brick wall, fill a gap, or be an entire story. Local and national newspapers are full of fascinating and useful information for our family history research.

The increase in newspapers had a direct correlation to the percentage of the population that could read. As our ancestors became literate they took great pride in seeing their names in the local press.

Small local newspapers ran ads for businesses. My Great Great Grandfather Campbell ran the local mercantile and information concerning his store was contained in the advertisements in the Carrollton, Missouri newspapers. His son-in-law, John Mirick, was an attorney in the same town and the paper ran ads for his practice.

From those advertisements I was provided with addresses and time periods. Information concerning the types of goods sold added to the story of his life. I learned from the newspaper that he was the postmaster and was able to find information concerning his appointment at the National Archives.

Political information such as election results were carried in local newspapers. It was here I discovered that my Great Great Grandfather was elected Sheriff of Carroll County, Missouri, after the Civil War. He ran as a Democrat in a highly Republican county and won, receiving more votes than the two presidential candidates combined. All this information contained in the newspapers.

One of the key sections of the local newspapers are the obituaries. Carrollton had two newspapers; one Democrat and one Republican. Both carried my Great Great Grandfather's obituary. The obituary in the Democratic newspaper carried a warm, personal and very laudatory account of my Great Great Grandfather's life. He was a Democrat after all. It was in this obituary that I learned he had been called "Uncle John" by almost everyone in town. The Republican newspaper's obituary was direct and to the point containing facts but little truly personal information. Had I relied on the first newspaper I found, the Republican, I would have missed so much personal information.

I suggest you check your ancestor's hometown to see if there was more than one newspaper published. If there was, read both, as bias had a way of creeping into any article. Even an obituary. I used both obituaries of John Campbell and several of people I didn't know to write John Campbell Is Dead.

I love having digital editions of newspapers for their indexing capabilities and ease of use. But don't ignore newspapers on microfilm because you have to read every page of a daily or weekly. My first experience with newspapers was on microfilm. I spent two eight hour days reading the Carrollton weekly and I was not disappointed.

I found articles about what was going on in my ancestor's churches, whether they had done well in school or received an honor. I found the source for my Grandfather's unusual first name, Otey. It was family lore that it had been the last name of my Great Grandfather's best friend. I found the Otey family in Carrollton through the newspaper. Mrs. Otey was a milliner who worked in my Great Great Grandfather's mercantile.

Local newspapers are also filled with local society information. When I was in college I cringed when our local newspaper wrote I was home from college to visit my family. I think our local society columnist listened in on the "party line." Today I am so grateful for that information. I was able to trace my Great Grandfather's sister when she returned from her honeymoon and settled into her first home, address and all.

The newspaper also carried all the local picnics and dances held by the schools and churches. While reading page after page on microfilm I found my Great Grandfather's two younger sisters dancing the night away at an all night chaperoned church social. It felt good to know that their life had not been all hardship; that they were two very normal teen aged girls.

The local newspaper will give you the weather, the crops grown, and more. All can be used in telling the complete family history story. I used newspaper accounts of flooding in Carrollton to write The Great Missouri River Flood.

National newspapers have been one of the biggest sources of family history information in my research. I am very fortunate that some members of my family were prominent and their comings and goings were recorded in the New York Times. I have found obituaries, wedding notices, and speeches given by my New York ancestors. Newspapers used in writing a wedding story can be read at Wedding In Nirvana.

But don't harbor the impression your ancestor had to be famous to be in the New York Times or the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Readers of The Virtual Dime Museum, by L.H. Crawley, are treated to a daily feast of the many things available in newspapers for use by the family historian. Read these articles and see how expertly Crawley marries the facts to the story.

But more than just the comings and goings of family members, my family history is entwined with New York City and Carnegie Hall. Both appearing in the historical New York Times on a daily basis.

This paragraph discussing Carnegie Hall, a part of my family history, was compiled from five separate newspaper articles:

The first concert turned out to be a highly successful five-day opening festival held in 1891 attended by the cream of New York society. New York had never beheld such opulence — no American city had — exquisite dresses sparkling with jewels vied with the thousands of electric lights for attention, there were women of uncompromising beauty, sixty-two boxes filled with prominent people from every walk of life in all their finery; the time and money devoted by the audience of the first concert to themselves was staggering. The consensus was that for purposes of the fashionable display of New York society, the Music Hall was unsurpassed, the boxes having been constructed so that the light fell upon every tier. All the better for New York society to see and be seen.

The following information was taken from two national newspapers:

In 1926, Louis Salter retired from Carnegie Hall to become the General Representative of the Philharmonic Society of New York, but he never left the building. The Philharmonic Society of New York maintained offices in Carnegie Hall until its move to Lincoln Center in 19??. He worked in Carnegie Hall from 1893 until his death in 1939. John Totten had been Salter’s assistant and assumed the position of Superintendent upon Salter’s retirement. John Totten was the Godfather of Juliana Ernestine Greene, my Aunt and my Godmother. The ties of my family to Carnegie Hall are very strong.

Salter was also the financial manager of the Philharmonic Orchestra when Toscanini took the Orchestra on its first European tour. Toscanini and Salter had forged a professional and personal friendship. Toscanini had become dependent on Salter for his professional expertise and wanted the European tour to be one of his greatest successes. He knew it would be if Louis Salter were in charge of all the arrangements.

As more newspapers are digitized more relevant family history information becomes available. Check back often, family history may be waiting for you on the pages of the newspaper.